Welcome......here you can review hard statistical evaluation data on the effectiveness of the NGCRC's previous gang specialist training programs:

 

Statistical Evaluation Results from the

2009 NGCRC Training Conference:


INTRODUCTION

            The 2009 Twelfth International NGCRC Gang Specialist Training Conference was held during August 12-14, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. The statistical evaluation results are reported here from over three hundred persons attending the conference who provided such evaluation surveys. What this documents is an amazing level of “success” as measured in terms of the satisfaction of those who attended.


THE NGCRC ATTRACTS THOSE WITH AND WITHOUT PRIOR TRAINING ON GANGS

            One statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2008 NGCRC training conference reveals the NGCRC attracts those with and without prior training in gangs. In fact, for 2009 some 48.7 percent indicated that they had not previously received any training about gangs. Thus, some 51.3 percent of those attending the NGCRC training conference indicated that they had in fact been previously trained on gangs.


THE NGCRC ATTRACTS NEW AND REPEAT TRAINEES

            The NGCRC 2009 Evaluation Survey asked the trainees whether this was the first time they had attended an NGCRC conference. The results indicated that 67 percent of those attending the 2009 conference did so for the first time. In other words, some 33 percent of those who attended the 2009 conference did in fact have previous training at an official NGCRC training conference.


FEW ARGUE WITH THE FACTS: THE NGCRC OFFERS MORE CHOICES THAN ANYONE ELSE

            One very powerful statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2009 NGCRC conference relates to the number of choices a person does or does not have in terms of different options for classes to attend. In some training programs there is no choice at all, or few or very limited choices. Some 98.2 percent of those attending the NGCRC 2009 conference reported that “the NGCRC had more choices for sessions”.


OVERWHELMING MAJORITY REPORT “BEST GANG TRAINING EVER”

            As a testament to the high quality of the training experience at the 2009 NGCRC training conference, another significant statistical result from the evaluation indicated an exceptionally high level of satisfaction with the training. Some 82.5 percent of those attending the conference reported that it “was, in my opinion, the best gang training event I have ever attended”. Such high levels of praise from people all over the USA and abroad are indeed hard to achieve.


ALMOST EVERYONE WANTS TO COME BACK NEXT YEAR

            Another measure of the validity of high levels of satisfaction among those attending the NGCRC’s 2009 conference is found in the results to the question measuring intention to “come back next year”.

            The evaluation instrument included the following question: “I would like to attend the 2010 NGCRC 13th International Gang Specialist Training Conference that the National Gang Crime Research Center is currently planning. ___True ___False”.

            Some 97.3 percent of those who attended the 2009 conference indicated that they want to attend the 2010 conference as well.


ACHIEVING NETWORKING: A GUARANTEED RESULT AT THE NGCRC CONFERENCE

            Three separate evaluation questions addressed the issue of “networking” because this is always an important “added benefit” of any training, and it becomes particularly valuable as a resource when dealing with gang problems.

            The first question asked “did you meet any new gang specialists that you may be able to network with in the future while you were at this conference”. The results of the evaluation question about whether the participants at the 2009 NGCRC training conference were able to achieve networking showed an astounding 97 percent reported that they were able to achieve such networking while at the conference.

            The second question sought to establish a baseline for how important the factor of “networking” was to those attending the 2009 NGCRC conference. The third question therefore asked the participants “was the opportunity to network with other gang specialists something that you wanted to achieve while at this conference”. Here we find that 94.7 percent indicated that networking was an important goal for them at the conference.

            A number of specialized “networking receptions” were available to anyone who wanted to participate in these events during after hours. These are well planned and well managed events designed to enhance networking among professionals. Thus, a third and final question about networking in the evaluation survey asked “did you attend any of the special networking receptions”? Here we find that 71.8 percent attended one or more of these specialized reception events.

            What does this mean when we compare the results of questions two and three? Simple: the NGCRC delivers more. The level of reported networking achieved at the 2009 conference (97%) exceeded the level at which it was desired (94.7%). Another way of looking at this, is that some who did not consider networking important also achieved that networking result along with everyone else! The NGCRC promises a warm and friendly environment, and these statistics tend to support that claim.


VERY HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF TAKE HOME TRAINING MATERIALS

            The rating system used by the NGCRC to evaluate the performance of the trainers and presenters, as well as its own operations, utilizes a "scale" of values from an absolute low value of "zero" to indicate the low extreme of "not satisfied" to an absolute high value of ten (10) to indicate the high extreme of "very satisfied". Thus, the “score” in such cases is easy to interpret: the higher the score, the higher the level of satisfaction.

            The “mean score” is what is used to calculate an overall score for performance. The mean is the arithmetic mean, a measure of central tendency in the data, and it is calculated by means of an SPSS analysis. SPSS is a statistical software package widely used in the social sciences and criminology.

            The evaluation form included the following question measuring the quality of materials: "how satisfied were you with the quality of the take home training materials provided to you?". Each participant is provided with a "take home goody bag" that contains various printed training materials for future use. The results indicated a mean score of 8.26 on a zero to 10 point scale.

            A second question asked "how satisfied were you with the quantity of take home training materials provided to you?", and here again a very high score emerges, a mean value of 8.0 was found for this factor.

 

HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH NGCRC STAFF

            The evaluation form included the question "How satisfied were you with the staff and volunteers of the National Gang Crime Research Center in terms of making your experience at the training conference a quality time?". The results indicated a mean score of 9.03, again a very high level of satisfaction with the NGCRC staff. The staff provide a number of useful functions to the conference participants, from security to equipment technician support.                     

 

OVER HALF WON SOMETHING IN ONE OF THE RAFFLES

            There are various raffles at the NGCRC conference, some occur at the networking receptions and some are scheduled through the Operations Center.

            The evaluation form asked the conference participants "did you win anything in any of the raffles?". The results indicated that 53.7 percent of those attending the conference reported winning something in one of the raffles.


OVER A FOURTH WENT ON ONE OF THE TOURS

            There were various tours arranged (tour of the hood, tour of juvenile detention center, etc) for conference participants during their stay in Chicago. The tours were available free to those registered for the conference on a first come, first sign-up basis. The evaluation form therefore included the question "did you go on any of the tours?". The results indicated that over a third of all the attendees, some 30.1 percent, reported going out on one or more of the tours.


NGCRC GUESTS OFTEN BRING ADDITIONAL FAMILY MEMBERS WITH

            The NGCRC promises a “family friendly” environment for its conference participants and provided some special features in this regard (e.g., Family ID cards allowing them to take advantage of discounts at restaurants, etc in the area). The evaluation form asked “Did you bring other family members to Chicago this visit” and the results indicated that 17.2 percent brought one or more other family members with to the conference.


CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS GIVE “HIGH GRADES” TO THE NGCRC AS AN OVERALL EVALUATION RESULT

            Finally, another question on the evaluation form asked the 2009 NGCRC conference participants to “give us your grade for how we did overall in trying to make this conference experience a good one for you. For a final grade, I give this conference an ___A ___B ___C ___D ___F”.

            The results indicated that most (65.4%) gave the NGCRC an "A". An additional 30.1 percent gave the NGCRC a grade of "B". Thus, 95.2 percent of the trainees rated the NGCRC training experience as an "A" or "B", the highest possible grades. Again, from a different way of measuring the same thing (overall training experience), we find additional strong evidence of a high level of satisfaction among persons who attended the conference. Thus, conference attendees gave the NGCRC an overall grade of "A minus" it would appear from the 2009 evaluation results: again, a remarkable achievement.

           

Hold On......There is Much More To See!!!!

Statistical Evaluation Results from the

2008 NGCRC Training Conference:


INTRODUCTION

            The 2008 Eleventh International NGCRC Gang Specialist Training Conference was held during August 6-8, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. The statistical evaluation results are reported here from over three hundred persons attending the conference who provided such evaluation surveys. What this documents is an amazing level of “success” as measured in terms of the satisfaction of those who attended.


THE NGCRC ATTRACTS THOSE WITH AND WITHOUT PRIOR TRAINING ON GANGS

            One statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2008 NGCRC training conference reveals the NGCRC attracts those with and without prior training in gangs. In fact, for 2008 some 42.5 percent indicated that they had not previously received any training about gangs. Thus, some 57.5 percent of those attending the NGCRC training conference indicated that they had in fact been previously trained on gangs.


THE NGCRC ATTRACTS NEW AND REPEAT TRAINEES

            The NGCRC 2007 Evaluation Survey asked the trainees whether this was the first time they had attended an NGCRC conference. The results indicated that 63.1 percent of those attending the 2008 conference did so for the first time. In other words, some 36.9 percent of those who attended the 2008 conference did in fact have previous training at an official NGCRC training conference.


FEW ARGUE WITH THE FACTS: THE NGCRC OFFERS MORE CHOICES THAN ANYONE ELSE

            One very powerful statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2008 NGCRC conference relates to the number of choices a person does or does not have in terms of different options for classes to attend. In some training programs there is no choice at all, or few or very limited choices. Some 94.8 percent of those attending the NGCRC 2008 conference reported that "the NGCRC had more choices for session topics".


OVERWHELMING MAJORITY REPORT “BEST GANG TRAINING EVER”

            As a testament to the high quality of the training experience at the 2008 NGCRC training conference, another significant statistical result from the evaluation indicated an exceptionally high level of satisfaction with the training. Some 84.9 percent of those attending the conference reported that it "was, in my opinion, the best gang training event I have ever attended". Such high levels of praise from people all over the USA and abroad are indeed hard to achieve.


ALMOST EVERYONE WANTS TO COME BACK NEXT YEAR

            Another measure of the validity of high levels of satisfaction among those attending the NGCRC’s 2008 conference is found in the results to the question measuring intention to "come back next year".

            The evaluation instrument included the following question: "I would like to attend the 2009 NGCRC 12th International Gang Specialist Training Conference that the National Gang Crime Research Center is currently planning. ___True ___False"”.

            Some 96.8 percent of those who attended the 2008 conference indicated that they want to attend the 2009 conference as well.


ACHIEVING NETWORKING: A GUARANTEED RESULT AT THE NGCRC CONFERENCE

            Three separate evaluation questions addressed the issue of “networking” because this is always an important "added benefit" of any training, and it becomes particularly valuable as a resource when dealing with gang problems.

            The first question asked "did you meet any new gang specialists that you may be able to network with in the future while you were at this conference". The results of the evaluation question about whether the participants at the 2008 NGCRC training conference were able to achieve networking showed an astounding 96.8 percent reported that they were able to achieve such networking while at the conference.

            The second question sought to establish a baseline for how important the factor of "networking" was to those attending the 2008 NGCRC conference. The third question therefore asked the participants “was the opportunity to network with other gang specialists something that you wanted to achieve while at this conference”. Here we find that 94.8 percent indicated that networking was an important goal for them at the conference.

            A number of specialized "networking receptions" were available to anyone who wanted to participate in these events during after hours. These are well planned and well managed events designed to enhance networking among professionals. Thus, a third and final question about networking in the evaluation survey asked "did you attend any of the special networking receptions"? Here we find that 66.0 percent attended one or more of these specialized reception events.

            What does this mean when we compare the results of questions two and three? Simple: the NGCRC delivers more. The level of reported networking achieved at the 2008 conference (96.8%) exceeded the level at which it was desired (94.8%). Another way of looking at this, is that some who did not consider networking important also achieved that networking result along with everyone else! The NGCRC promises a warm and friendly environment, and these statistics tend to support that claim.


VERY HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF TAKE HOME TRAINING MATERIALS

            The rating system used by the NGCRC to evaluate the performance of the trainers and presenters, as well as its own operations, utilizes a “scale” of values from an absolute low value of “zero” to indicate the low extreme of “not satisfied” to an absolute high value of ten (10) to indicate the high extreme of “very satisfied”. Thus, the “score” in such cases is easy to interpret: the higher the score, the higher the level of satisfaction.

            The "mean score" is what is used to calculate an overall score for performance. The mean is the arithmetic mean, a measure of central tendency in the data, and it is calculated by means of an SPSS analysis. SPSS is a statistical software package widely used in the social sciences and criminology.

            The evaluation form included the following question measuring the quality of materials: "how satisfied were you with the quality of the take home training materials provided to you?". Each participant is provided with a "take home goody bag" that contains various printed training materials for future use. The results indicated a mean score of 8.15 on a zero to 10 point scale.

            A second question asked "how satisfied were you with the quantity of take home training materials provided to you?", and here again a very high score emerges, a mean value of 7.9 was found for this factor.

 

HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH NGCRC STAFF

            The evaluation form included the question "How satisfied were you with the staff and volunteers of the National Gang Crime Research Center in terms of making your experience at the training conference a quality time?". The results indicated a mean score of 8.6 on a zero to ten point scale, again a very high level of satisfaction with the NGCRC staff. The staff provide a number of useful functions to the conference participants, from security to equipment technician support.                     

 

OVER HALF WON SOMETHING IN ONE OF THE RAFFLES

            There are various raffles at the NGCRC conference, some occur at the networking receptions and some are scheduled through the Operations Center.

            The evaluation form asked the conference participants "did you win anything in any of the raffles?". The results indicated that 52.9 percent of those attending the conference reported winning something in one of the raffles.


A THIRD WENT ON ONE OF THE TOURS

            There were various tours arranged (tour of the hood, tour of juvenile detention center, etc) for conference participants during their stay in Chicago. The tours were available free to those registered for the conference on a first come, first sign-up basis. The evaluation form therefore included the question "did you go on any of the tours?". The results indicated that over a third of all the attendees, some 34.4 percent, reported going out on one or more of the tours.


NGCRC GUESTS OFTEN BRING ADDITIONAL FAMILY MEMBERS WITH

            The NGCRC promises a "family friendly" environment for its conference participants and provided some special features in this regard (e.g., Family ID cards allowing them to take advantage of discounts at restaurants, etc in the area). The evaluation form asked "Did you bring other family members to Chicago this visit" and the results indicated that 16.2 percent brought one or more other family members with to the conference.


CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS GIVE “HIGH GRADES” TO THE NGCRC AS AN OVERALL EVALUATION RESULT

            Finally, another question on the evaluation form asked the 2008 NGCRC conference participants to "give us your grade for how we did overall in trying to make this conference experience a good one for you. For a final grade, I give this conference an ___A ___B ___C ___D ___F".

            The results indicated that most (68.2%) gave the NGCRC an "A". An additional 27.1 percent gave the NGCRC a grade of "B". Thus, 95.3 percent of the trainees rated the NGCRC training experience as an “A” or “B”, the highest possible grades. Again, from a different way of measuring the same thing (overall training experience), we find additional strong evidence of a high level of satisfaction among persons who attended the conference. Thus, conference attendees gave the NGCRC an overall grade of "A minus" it would appear from the 2008 evaluatio

 

Hold On......There Is Much More To See!!!!!

 

Statistical Evaluation Results from the

2007 NGCRC Training Conference:


INTRODUCTION

            The 2007 Tenth International NGCRC Gang Specialist Training Conference was held during August 15-17, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. The statistical evaluation results are reported here from over three hundred persons attending the conference who provided such evaluation surveys. What this documents is an amazing level of "success" as measured in terms of the satisfaction of those who attended. By the way, this is another one of the ways the NGCRC gang training "stands out" over all others in the world today: we have always used strong quantitative and qualitative research methods to evaluate our conferences, and we have dutifully and proudly reported these results over the years. This level of professionalism and transparency by the NGCRC to share this kind of information we feel speaks to a capability and quality factor that separates the NGCRC from other training options.


THE NGCRC ATTRACTS THOSE WITH AND WITHOUT PRIOR TRAINING ON GANGS

            One statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2007 NGCRC training conference reveals the NGCRC attracts those with and without prior training in gangs. In fact, for 2007 some 45.1 percent indicated that they had not previously received any training about gangs. Thus, some 54.9 percent of those attending the NGCRC training conference indicated that they had in fact been previously trained on gangs.


THE NGCRC ATTRACTS NEW AND REPEAT TRAINEES

            The NGCRC 2007 Evaluation Survey asked the trainees whether this was the first time they had attended an NGCRC conference. The results indicated that 58.9 percent of those attending the 2007 conference did so for the first time. In other words, some 41.1 percent of those who attended the 2007 conference did in fact have previous training at an official NGCRC training conference.


FEW ARGUE WITH THE FACTS: THE NGCRC OFFERS MORE CHOICES THAN ANYONE ELSE

            One very powerful statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2007 NGCRC conference relates to the number of choices a person does or does not have in terms of different options for classes to attend. In some training programs there is no choice at all, or few or very limited choices. Some 98.5 percent of those attending the NGCRC 2007 conference reported that "the NGCRC had more choices for session topics".


OVERWHELMING MAJORITY REPORT “BEST GANG TRAINING EVER”

            As a testament to the high quality of the training experience at the 2007 NGCRC training conference, another significant statistical result from the evaluation indicated an exceptionally high level of satisfaction with the training. Some 87.6 percent of those attending the conference reported that it "was, in my opinion, the best gang training event I have ever attended". Such high levels of praise from people all over the USA and abroad are indeed hard to achieve.


ALMOST EVERYONE WANTS TO COME BACK NEXT YEAR

            Another measure of the validity of high levels of satisfaction among those attending the NGCRC’s 2007 conference is found in the results to the question measuring intention to "come back next year".

            The evaluation instrument included the following question: "I would like to attend the 2008 NGCRC 11th International Gang Specialist Training Conference that the National Gang Crime Research Center is currently planning." ___True ___False.

            Some 96.1 percent of those who attended the 2007 conference indicated that they want to attend the 2008 conference as well.


ACHIEVING NETWORKING: A GUARANTEED RESULT AT THE NGCRC CONFERENCE

            Three separate evaluation questions addressed the issue of “networking” because this is always an important “added benefit” of any training, and it becomes particularly valuable as a resource when dealing with gang problems.

            The first question asked "did you meet any new gang specialists that you may be able to network with in the future while you were at this conference". The results of the evaluation question about whether the participants at the 2007 NGCRC training conference were able to achieve networking showed an astounding 95.1 percent reported that they were able to achieve such networking while at the conference.

            The second question sought to establish a baseline for how important the factor of "networking" was to those attending the 2007 NGCRC conference. The third question therefore asked the participants "was the opportunity to network with other gang specialists something that you wanted to achieve while at this conference". Here we find that 92.8 percent indicated that networking was an important goal for them at the conference.

            A number of specialized "networking receptions" were available to anyone who wanted to participate in these events during after hours. These are well planned and well managed events designed to enhance networking among professionals. Thus, a third and final question about networking in the evaluation survey asked “did you attend any of the special networking receptions”? Here we find that 66.2 percent attended one or more of these specialized reception events.

            What does this mean when we compare the results of questions two and three? Simple: the NGCRC delivers more. The level of reported networking achieved at the 2007 conference (95.1%) exceeded the level at which it was desired (92.8%). Another way of looking at this, is that some who did not consider networking important also achieved that networking result along with everyone else! The NGCRC promises a warm and friendly environment, and these statistics tend to support that claim.


VERY HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF TAKE HOME TRAINING MATERIALS

            The rating system used by the NGCRC to evaluate the performance of the trainers and presenters, as well as its own operations, utilizes a “scale” of values from an absolute low value of "zero" to indicate the low extreme of "not satisfied" to an absolute high value of ten (10) to indicate the high extreme of "very satisfied". Thus, the “score” in such cases is easy to interpret: the higher the score, the higher the level of satisfaction.

            The "mean score" is what is used to calculate an overall score for performance. The mean is the arithmetic mean, a measure of central tendency in the data, and it is calculated by means of an SPSS analysis. SPSS is a statistical software package widely used in the social sciences and criminology.

            The evaluation form included the following question measuring the quality of materials: "how satisfied were you with the quality of the take home training materials provided to you?". Each participant is provided with a "take home goody bag" that contains various printed training materials for future use. The results indicated a mean score of 8.11 on a zero to 10 point scale.

            A second question asked “how satisfied were you with the quantity of take home training materials provided to you?”, and here again a very high score emerges, a mean value of 7.81 was found for this factor.

 

HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH NGCRC STAFF

            The evaluation form included the question "How satisfied were you with the staff and volunteers of the National Gang Crime Research Center in terms of making your experience at the training conference a quality time?". The results indicated a mean score of 8.88, again a very high level of satisfaction with the NGCRC staff. The staff provide a number of useful functions to the conference participants, from security to equipment technician support.                     

 

OVER A THIRD WON SOMETHING IN ONE OF THE RAFFLES

            There are various raffles at the NGCRC conference, some occur at the networking receptions and some are scheduled through the Operations Center.

            The evaluation form asked the conference participants "did you win anything in any of the raffles?". The results indicated that 39.9 percent of those attending the conference reported winning something in one of the raffles.


A FOURTH WENT ON ONE OF THE TOURS

            There were various tours arranged (tour of the hood, tour of juvenile detention center, etc) for conference participants during their stay in Chicago. The tours were available free to those registered for the conference on a first come, first sign-up basis. The evaluation form therefore included the question "did you go on any of the tours?". The results indicated that over a fourth, some 27.2 percent, reported going out on one or more of the tours.


NGCRC GUESTS OFTEN BRING ADDITIONAL FAMILY MEMBERS WITH

            The NGCRC promises a “family friendly” environment for its conference participants and provided some special features in this regard (e.g., Family ID cards allowing them to take advantage of discounts at restaurants, etc in the area). The evaluation form asked "Did you bring other family members to Chicago this visit" and the results indicated that 14.1 percent brought one or more other family members with to the conference.


CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS GIVE “HIGH GRADES” TO THE NGCRC AS AN OVERALL EVALUATION RESULT

            Finally, another question on the evaluation form asked the 2007 NGCRC conference participants to “give us your grade for how we did overall in trying to make this conference experience a good one for you. For a final grade, I give this conference an ___A ___B ___C ___D ___F”.

            The results indicated that most (64.9%) gave the NGCRC an "A". An additional 30.1 percent gave the NGCRC a grade of "B". Thus, 95 percent of the trainees rated the NGCRC training experience as an "A" or "B", the highest possible grades. Again, from a different way of measuring the same thing (overall training experience), we find additional strong evidence of a high level of satisfaction among persons who attended the conference. Thus, conference attendees gave the NGCRC an overall grade of "A minus" it would appear from the 2007 evaluation results: again, a remarkable achievement.

              

 

Stastistical Evaluation Results from the 2006 NGCRC Training Conference:

THE NGCRC ATTRACTS THOSE WITH AND WITHOUT PRIOR TRAINING ON GANGS

            One statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2006 NGCRC training conference reveals the NGCRC attracts those with and without prior training in gangs. In fact, for 2006 some 41.9 percent indicated that they had not previously received any training about gangs. Thus, some 58.1 percent of those attending the NGCRC training conference indicated that they had in fact been previously trained on gangs.

            Most were also new to the NGCRC’s training conference: as some 63.6 percent indicated that this was the first time that they had ever attended one of the gang training conferences sponsored by the National Gang Crime Research Center.


FEW ARGUE WITH THE FACTS: THE NGCRC OFFERS MORE CHOICES THAN ANYONE ELSE

            One very powerful statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2006 NGCRC conference relates to the number of choices a person does or does not have in terms of different options for classes to attend. In some training programs there is no choice at all, or few or very limited choices. Some 97.8 percent of those attending the NGCRC 2006 conference reported that “the NGCRC had more choices for session topics”.


OVERWHELMING MAJORITY REPORT “BEST GANG TRAINING EVER”

            As a testament to the high quality of the training experience at the 2006 NGCRC training conference, another significant statistical result from the evaluation indicated an exceptionally high level of satisfaction with the training. Some 91 percent of those attending the conference reported that it “was, in my opinion, the best gang training event I have ever attended”. Such high levels of praise from people all over the USA and abroad are indeed hard to achieve.


ALMOST EVERYONE WANTS TO COME BACK NEXT YEAR

            Another measure of the validity of high levels of satisfaction among those attending the NGCRC's 2006 conference is found in the results to the question measuring intention to "come back next year".

            The evaluation instrument included the following question: "I would like to attend the 2007 NGCRC 10th International Gang Specialist Training Conference that the National Gang Crime Research Center is currently planning. ___True ___False".

            Some 96.4 percent of those who attended the 2006 conference indicated that they want to attend next years conference as well.


ACHIEVING NETWORKING: A GUARANTEED RESULT AT THE NGCRC CONFERENCE

            Three separate evaluation questions addressed the issue of “networking” because this is always an important “added benefit” of any training, and it becomes particularly valuable as a resource when dealing with gang problems.

            The first question asked “did you meet any new gang specialists that you may be able to network with in the future while you were at this conference”. The results of the evaluation question about whether the participants at the 2006 NGCRC training conference were able to achieve networking showed an astounding 96.1 percent reported that they were able to achieve such networking while at the conference.

            The second question sought to establish a baseline for how important the factor of “networking” was to those attending the 2006 NGCRC conference. The third question therefore asked the participants “was the opportunity to network with other gang specialists something that you wanted to achieve while at this conference”. Here we find that 93.5 percent indicated that networking was an important goal for them at the conference.

            A number of specialized “networking receptions” were available to anyone who wanted to participate in these events during after hours. These are well planned and well managed events designed to enhance networking among professionals. Thus, a third and final question about networking in the evaluation survey asked “did you attend any of the special networking receptions”? Here we find that 42 percent attended one or more of these specialized reception events.

            What does this mean when we compare the results of questions two and three? Simple: the NGCRC delivers more. The level of reported networking achieved at the 2006 conference (96.1%) exceeded the level at which it was desired (93.5%). Another way of looking at this, is that some who did not consider networking important also achieved that networking result along with everyone else! The NGCRC promises a warm and friendly environment, and these statistics tend to support that claim.


VERY HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF TAKE HOME TRAINING MATERIALS

            The rating system used by the NGCRC to evaluate the performance of the trainers and presenters, as well as its own operations, utilizes a “scale” of values from an absolute low value of “zero” to indicate the low extreme of “not satisfied” to an absolute high value of ten (10) to indicate the high extreme of “very satisfied”. Thus, the “score” in such cases is easy to interpret: the higher the score, the higher the level of satisfaction.

            The “mean score” is what is used to calculate an overall score for performance. The mean is the arithmetic mean, a measure of central tendency in the data, and it is calculated by means of an SPSS analysis. SPSS is a statistical software package widely used in the social sciences and criminology.

            The evaluation form included the following question measuring the quality of materials: “how satisfied were you with the quality of the take home training materials provided to you?”. Each participant is provided with a “take home goody bag” that contains various printed training materials for future use. The results indicated a mean score of 8.36 on a zero to 10 point scale.

            A second question asked “how satisfied were you with the quantity of take home training materials provided to you?”, and here again a very high score emerges, a mean value of 7.97 was found for this factor.

 

HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH NGCRC STAFF

            The evaluation form included the question “How satisfied were you with the staff and volunteers of the National Gang Crime Research Center in terms of making your experience at the training conference a quality time?”. The results indicated a mean score of 9.13, again a very high level of satisfaction with the NGCRC staff. The staff provide a number of useful functions to the conference participants, from security to equipment technician support.                        

 

OVER A THIRD WON SOMETHING IN ONE OF THE RAFFLES

            There are various raffles at the NGCRC conference, some occur at the networking receptions and some are scheduled through the Operations Center.

            The evaluation form asked the conference participants "did you win anything in any of the raffles?". The results indicated that 42 percent of those attending the conference reported winning something in one of the raffles.


NEARLY A FOURTH WENT ON ONE OF THE TOURS

            There were various tours arranged (tour of the hood, tour of juvenile detention center, etc) for conference participants during their stay in Chicago. The tours were available free to those registered for the conference on a first come, first sign-up basis. The evaluation form therefore included the question “did you go on any of the tours?”. The results indicated that over a fourth, some 23.4 percent, reported going out on one or more of the tours.


NGCRC GUESTS OFTEN BRING ADDITIONAL FAMILY MEMBERS WITH

            The NGCRC promises a “family friendly” environment for its conference participants and provided some special features in this regard (e.g., Family ID cards allowing them to take advantage of discounts at restaurants, etc in the area). The evaluation form asked “Did you bring other family members to Chicago this visit” and the results indicated that 12.9 percent brought one or more other family members with to the conference. The numbers ranged between one and eight.


CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS GIVE “HIGH GRADES” TO THE NGCRC AS AN OVERALL EVALUATION RESULT

            Finally, another question on the evaluation form asked the 2006 NGCRC conference participants to “give us your grade for how we did overall in trying to make this conference experience a good one for you. For a final grade, I give this conference an ___A ___B ___C ___D ___F”.

            The results indicated that most (72.4%) gave the NGCRC an “A”. An additional 26 percent gave the NGCRC a grade of “B”. Only 1.6 percent gave the NGCRC a grade of “C”. No one gave the NGCRC a grade of D or lower. Again, from a different way of measuring the same thing (overall training experience), we find additional strong evidence of a high level of satisfaction among persons who attended the conference. Thus, conference attendees gave the NGCRC an overall grade of “A minus“ it would appear from the 2006 evaluation results: again, a remarkable achievement.

 

Even More Evaluations to See!!!!!

 


Statistical Evaluation Results from the

2005 NGCRC Training Conference:


 

THE NGCRC ATTRACTS THOSE WITH AND WITHOUT PRIOR TRAINING ON GANGS

 One statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2005 NGCRC training conference reveals the NGCRC attracts those with and without prior training in gangs. In fact, for 2005 some 46.6 percent indicated that they had not previously received any training about gangs. Thus, some 53.4 percent of those attending the NGCRC training conference indicated that they had in fact been previously trained on gangs.



FEW ARGUE WITH THE FACTS: THE NGCRC OFFERS MORE CHOICES THAN ANYONE ELSE

 One very powerful statistical result from the evaluation forms completed by those attending the 2005 NGCRC conference relates to the number of choices a person does or does not have in terms of different options for classes to attend. In some training programs there is no choice at all, or few or very limited choices. Some 98.1 percent of those attending the NGCRC 2005 conference reported that “the NGCRC had more choices for session topics”.



OVERWHELMING MAJORITY REPORT “BEST GANG TRAINING EVER”

 As a testament to the high quality of the training experience at the 2005 NGCRC training conference, another significant statistical result from the evaluation indicated an exceptionally high level of satisfaction with the training. Some 88.8 percent of those attending the conference reported that it “was, in my opinion, the best gang training event I have ever attended”. Such high levels of praise from people all over the USA and abroad are indeed hard to achieve.


 

ALMOST EVERYONE WANTS TO COME BACK NEXT YEAR

 Another measure of the validity of high levels of satisfaction among those attending the NGCRC’s 2005 conference is found in the results to the question measuring intention to “come back next year”.

 The evaluation instrument included the following question: “I would like to attend the 2006 NGCRC 9th International Gang Specialist Training Conference that the National Gang Crime Research Center is currently planning. ___True ___False”.

 Some 97.3 percent of those who attended the 2005 conference indicated that they want to attend next years conference as well.


 

ACHIEVING NETWORKING: A GUARANTEED RESULT AT THE NGCRC CONFERENCE

 Three separate evaluation questions addressed the issue of “networking” because this is always an important “added benefit” of any training, and it becomes particularly valuable as a resource when dealing with gang problems.

 The first question asked “did you attend any of the special networking receptions?”. The results indicated that 62.7 percent attended one or more of these special networking events.

 The second question asked “did you meeting any new gang specialists that you may be able to network with in the future while you were at this conference”. A number of specialized “networking receptions” were available to anyone who wanted to participate in these events during after hours. These are well planned and well managed events designed to enhance networking among professionals.

 The results of the evaluation question about whether the participants at the 2005 NGCRC training conference were able to achieve networking showed an astounding 95.7 percent reported that they were able to achieve such networking while at the conference.

The third question sought to establish a baseline for how important the factor of “networking” was to those attending the 2005 NGCRC conference. The third question therefore asked the participants “was the opportunity to network with other gang specialists something that you wanted to achieve while at this conference”. Here we find that 94.4 percent indicated that networking was an important goal for them at the conference.

What does this mean when we compare the results of questions two and three? Simple: the NGCRC delivers more. The level of reported networking achieved at the 2005 conference (95.7%) exceeded the level at which it was desired (94.4%). Another way of looking at this, is that some who did not consider networking important also achieved that networking result along with everyone else! The NGCRC promises a warm and friendly environment, and these statistics tend to support that claim.


 

VERY HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF TAKE HOME TRAINING MATERIALS

 The rating system used by the NGCRC to evaluate the performance of the trainers and presenters, as well as its own operations, utilizes a “scale” of values from an absolute low value of “zero” to indicate the low extreme of “not satisfied” to an absolute high value of ten (10) to indicate the high extreme of “very satisfied”. Thus, the “score” in such cases is easy to interpret: the higher the score, the higher the level of satisfaction.

 The “mean score” is what is used to calculate an overall score for performance. The mean is the arithmetic mean, a measure of central tendency in the data, and it is calculated by means of an SPSS analysis. SPSS is a statistical software package often used in the social sciences and criminology.

The evaluation form included the following question measuring the quality of materials: “how satisfied were you with the quality of the take home training materials provided to you?”. Each participant is provided with a “take home goody bag” that contains various printed training materials for future use. The results indicated a mean score of 8.29 on a zero to 10 point scale.

 A second question asked “how satisfied were you with the quantity of take home training materials provided to you?”, and here again a very high score emerges, a mean value of 8.78 was found for this factor.

 

HIGH LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH NGCRC STAFF

 The evaluation form included the question “How satisfied were you with the staff and volunteers of the National Gang Crime Research Center in terms of making your experience at the training conference a quality time?”. The results indicated a mean score of 8.89, again a very high level of satisfaction with the NGCRC staff. The staff provide a number of useful functions to the conference participants.


OVER A THIRD WON SOMETHING IN ONE OF THE RAFFLES

 There are various raffles at the NGCRC conference, some occur at the networking receptions and some are scheduled through the Operations Center.

The evaluation form asked the conference participants “did you win anything in any of the raffles?”. The results indicated that 37.6 percent of those attending the conference reported winning something in one of the raffles.



OVER A FOURTH WENT ON ONE OF THE TOURS

 There were various tours arranged (tour of the hood, tour of juvenile detention center, etc) for conference participants during their stay in Chicago. The tours were available free to those registered for the conference on a first come, first sign-up basis. The evaluation form therefore included the question “did you go on any of the tours?”. The results indicated that over a fourth, some 28.5 percent, reported going out on one or more of the tours.



NGCRC GUESTS OFTEN BRING ADDITIONAL FAMILY MEMBERS WITH

The NGCRC promises a “family friendly” environment for its conference participants and provided some special features in this regard (e.g., Family ID cards allowing them to take advantage of discounts at restaurants, etc in the area). The evaluation form asked “Did you bring other family members to Chicago this visit” and the results indicated that 16.3 percent brought one or more other family members with to the conference. The numbers ranged between one and eight.


 

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS GIVE “GOOD GRADES” TO THE NGCRC AS AN OVERALL EVALUATION RESULT

 Finally, another question on the evaluation form asked the 2005 NGCRC conference participants to “give us your grade for how we did overall in trying to make this conference experience a good one for you. For a final grade, I give this conference an ___A ___B ___C ___D ___F”.

The results indicated that most (72%) gave the NGCRC an “A”. An additional 24.3 percent gave the NGCRC a grade of “B”. Only 3.7 percent gave the NGCRC a grade of “C”. No one gave the NGCRC a grade of D or lower. So an "A-" (A-minus) is basically what the NGCRC achieved in 2005. Again, from a different way of measuring the same thing (overall training experience), we find additional strong evidence of a high level of satisfaction among persons who attended the conference.